History of Homeopathy
In the late 1700s, Samuel Hahnemann, a physician, chemist, and
linguist in Germany, proposed a new approach to treating illness.
This was at a time when the most common medical treatments were
harsh, such as bloodletting, purging,
blistering, and the use of sulfur and mercury. At the time, there
were few effective medications for treating patients, and knowledge
about their effects was limited.
Hahnemann was interested in developing a less-threatening approach
to medicine. The first major step reportedly was when he was translating
an herbal text and read about a treatment (cinchona bark) used
to cure malaria. He took some cinchona bark and observed that,
as a healthy person, he developed symptoms that were very similar
to malaria symptoms. This led Hahnemann to consider that a substance
may create symptoms that it can also relieve. This concept is called
the "similia
principle" or "like cures like."
The similia principle
had a prior history in medicine, from Hippocrates in Ancient Greece--who
noted, for example, that recurrent vomiting could be treated with
an emetic (such as ipecacuanha) that would be expected to make
it worse-to folk medicine. Another
way to view "like cures like" is that symptoms are part
of the body's attempt to heal itself--for example, a fever can
develop as a result of an immune response to an infection, and
a cough may help to eliminate mucus-and medication may be given
to support this self-healing response.
Hahnemann tested single,
pure substances on himself and, in more dilute forms, on healthy
volunteers. He kept meticulous records of his experiments and participants'
responses, and he combined these observations with information
from clinical practice, the known uses of herbs and other medicinal
substances, and toxicology, eventually
treating the sick and developing homeopathic clinical practice.
Hahnemann added two additional elements to homeopathy:
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A concept that became "potentization," which
holds that systematically diluting a substance, with vigorous
shaking at each step of dilution, makes the remedy more, not
less, effective by extracting the vital essence of the substance.
If dilution continues to a point where the substance's molecules
are gone, homeopathy holds that the "memory" of them--that
is, the effects they exerted on the surrounding water molecules--may
still be therapeutic.
-
A concept that treatment should be selected based upon a total
picture of an individual and his symptoms, not solely upon symptoms
of a disease. Homeopaths evaluate not only a person's physical
symptoms but her emotions, mental states, lifestyle, nutrition,
and other aspects. In homeopathy, different people with the same
symptoms may receive different homeopathic remedies.
Hans Burch Gram, a Boston-born doctor, studied homeopathy in Europe
and introduced it into the United States in 1825. European immigrants
trained in homeopathy also made the treatment increasingly available
in America. In 1835, the first homeopathic medical college was
established in Allentown, Pennsylvania. By the turn of the 20th
century, 8 percent of all American medical practitioners were homeopaths,
and there were 20 homeopathic medical colleges and more than 100
homeopathic hospitals in the United States.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous medical advances
were made, such as the recognition of the mechanisms of disease;
Pasteur's germ theory; the development of antiseptic techniques;
and the discovery of ether anesthesia. In addition, a report (the
so-called "Flexner Report") was released that triggered
major changes in American medical education. Homeopathy was among
the disciplines negatively affected by these developments. Most
homeopathic medical schools closed down, and by the 1930s others
had converted to conventional medical schools.
In the 1960s, homeopathy's popularity began to revive in the
United States. According to a 1999 survey of Americans and their
health, over 6 million Americans had used homeopathy in the preceding
12 months. The
World Health Organization noted in 1994 that homeopathy had been
integrated into the national health care systems of numerous countries,
including Germany, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
and Mexico. Several
schools of practice exist within homeopathy.
Persons using homeopathy do so to address a range of health concerns,
from wellness and prevention to treatment of injuries, diseases,
and conditions. Studies have found that many people who seek homeopathic
care seek it for help with a chronic medical condition. Many
users of homeopathy treat themselves with homeopathic products
and do not consult a professional.
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